


A Spot in Hell Called the Throne

by NitroTheKidd



Series: 2PT AU [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: 2P!AU, 2PT!AU, AU makes sense when you read it, Canon-Typical Violence, Other, ends on a cliffhanger kind of, pt voice: we're rude now!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:28:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25057732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NitroTheKidd/pseuds/NitroTheKidd
Summary: In a different world, an eerie-faced delinquent, and a vengeful student council president walk into a castle.
Series: 2PT AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1814854
Kudos: 16





	A Spot in Hell Called the Throne

**Author's Note:**

> This was heavily inspired by a piece of art made by @hephassst on twitter. It has haunted my mind ever since I first laid eyes on it. I'm not sure if it was the hetalia flashbacks or just the gall of the idea that stuck with me enough to write something so long.
> 
> [EDIT: 9/14/20]: I'm realizing a bit too late that probably no one knows what 2P even means. Essentially, it's a "reversal" of what's canon. For example, while Ryuji is flippant but well-meaning in canon, in this au, he's considerably less patient, but formal. This applies only for the Phantom Thieves- I don't have the strength to make any of the targets decent people. While it's something you can figure out while reading the fic, it might come as a surprise if you're just looking for something canon-compliant.
> 
> Mind the tags and enjoy! :)

_"By that uniform, I'm guessing you're Shujin."_

_The dark-haired boy gives him a look- one that can only be described as "disdainful". Brown eyes glanced at his slouchy posture, his disheveled uniform, the scar across his face, and sighed._

_Typical for that type of person._

_"For your own sake, I'd recommend you don't get involved with Kamoshida." He speaks, and Shousuke rolls his eyes._

_"And I'd recommend not getting involved with me. For your precious reputation might take a blow." Shousuke smiles- and he loves that the student squirms a bit at his smirk._

_"Don't act like such a toughass." His classmate growls. "Compared to Kamoshida, you're a peasant in his castle. I'm only giving you a warning."_

_That glare- that glare the student was giving him. Shousuke can see it- just one push, and he would snap. Just one wrong word on a bad day, and Shousuke would see his true colors._

_"What the hell are you doing?" The student asks- as Shousuke raises a hand to the boy's cheek. Just to frame that expression more. But, he feels a vice on his wrist, and the hand is promptly pushed away. "Weirdass…" The boy shakes his head and scoffs- and he's back to the neutral expression of disdain, turning away and walking._

_And Shousuke follows._

_"I don't have any money on me." The boy growls. "Go away."_

_"That glare again." Shousuke mutters. "What's your name, friend?"_

_"We aren't friends. Go away."_

_"We aren't friends is a strange name." Shousuke grins, and he can't help but giggle. Not at the joke- but by how the boy whips his head around and stops on his heel._

_"Sakamoto Ryuji. Now go away, or I'll make your time here hell, got it?" Sakamoto hisses- and that anger is almost there. Shousuke's so, very close to uncovering that beautiful anger._

_"I'm simply trying to make my way to school. We're going to the same place. Why not make idle conversation, Ryuji?"_

_Sakamoto sighs- heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose and turning to an alley. "Again, we are not friends. I think you're annoyingly cocky."_

_"I think you're condescending." Shousuke frowns, turning the same corner._

_"Then why do you continue to pester me?"_

_"Because I plan to corner you and kill you in a back alley. I'd love to watch you squirm in your final moments."_

_Sakamoto snorts as he treks up the stairs. "I like your sense of humor. I'd wring your neck before you get the chance."_

_"My, my. I assumed you were just some goody-two shoes pushover." Shousuke smiles. "But you and me are the same."_

_"About as similar as a neutered dog and a groomed lion."_

_"You flatter me."_

_"You're the dickless dog in this scenario."_

_"A dickless dog aware of my surroundings. You do know we're standing in front of a castle, right?"_

_Sakamoto turns- to Shousuke, and to what was supposed to be Shujin. "I- that- no. Impossible, I've taken this route every day for the past two years." He seems flustered, his eyes darting between the structure._

_"You didn't notice, huh." Shousuke giggles once more- and Sakamoto's head whips around to glare at him._

_"This is just- some weird prank. Decorations for some event. No matter." Sakamoto adjusts his collar, and steps inside._

_"I've only been here once, but… This place is different than I remember. Won't you just admit you're wrong?"_

_"Yet you follow me anyways."_

_"This is a nice place to ditch class, wouldn't you say?"_

_"So you are just a delinquent, huh?" Sakamoto spits. He's anxious. He gets snappy easily, for someone meant to be composed. Glancing around at the gaudy interior, his leg bounced as the two were approached._

_Guards. Knights in silver armor._

_"I'm impressed by your costumes. Is this supposed to be some sort of drama club advertisement?" Sakamoto asks, arms crossed. His words were begin, but his posture was stern, his brow furrowed. A threat under soft words and a false promise._

_No response. They only trekked closer._

_"Those swords of yours look awfully real for a prop." Sakamoto's head tilts just a bit. "You aren't planning on threatening the student council president, are you?"_

_"... You dare trespass on our lord's castle, scum?"_

_The knight speaks- and it doesn't sound like a student. Shousuke frowns and reaches for his bag- but another one quickly grabs his wrist._

_"Scum? Do you have any idea who I am?" Sakamoto growls. Quick to anger- quick to grunt in pain as the knight's knee slams into his abdomen. Shousuke reels back his fist, but the pommel of a blade smacks the back of his head, and hard._

_"Treason against the king shall be punished with death! Take them away!" He hears, before he hits the ground- and everything goes black._

_…_

_When he wakes up, Sakamoto's hovering over him. He doesn't manage to shake off the concerned expression by the time Shousuke can keep his eyes open._

_"Good, you're alive." Sakamoto huffs. "I figured you wouldn't croak at just one blow."_

_Shousuke smiles, reaching into his bag- "They won't get the jump on me again." He says, sifting through the tools. Sakamoto frowns at the shuffling of metal._

_"Carrying weapons to school. Normally I'd have to report that." Sakamoto sighs._

_"Narc." Shousuke grins, pulling a dagger._

_"I said normally. If you can get us out of this alive, I'll just say I never saw it."_

_"You're not a goody-two shoes? Color me surprised." Shousuke's smile only widens, and Sakamoto frowns._

_"You look like a slasher villain." Sakamoto frowns, stepping away. He hobbled a bit, leaning to the side, but quickly regained composure. "Do you carry those around so people will be scared of you?"_

_"I carry them to use them." Shousuke brings himself upright. "I think this scar of mine does enough for that."_

_"Somehow I doubt it." Sakamoto rolls his eyes, as Shousuke approaches the barred metal door. His hand carefully feels for a hole- a typical lever lock._

_Someone screams from across the hall._

_"What's your name?" Sakamoto asks him, watching as he kneels down and reaches back into his bag. The wailing doesn't stop- it only grows louder._

_"Tsuji Shousuke."_

_Sakamoto's brow furrows, and there's the glare he loves. "Tsuji. There's something I have to do before I die."_

_"What makes you think we're going to die?"_

_"Tsuji," Sakamoto repeats. "Break us out of here or I'll kill you myself."_

_And the rage in his eyes makes Shousuke smile._

_The screams are quiet._

_…_

_"Be grateful that your punishment has been decided upon, inmates." A voice echoes down the hall, and the lock clicks open._

_"You two have been accused of unlawful entry and violence against the king. The punishment is death."_

_Shousuke looks to Sakamoto- and then to the guard that just turned to them._

_"What say the accused?"_

_Sakamoto rolls a shoulder- and sneers. "I'm not playing along with this medieval bullshit."_

_He charges forwards- ramming his side into the door, and sending the door into the guard. The metal bashed together with a loud clang, and the armored knight fell to the floor, stunned._

_"Come on, go!" Sakamoto roars, and adrenaline pumps in his veins. Shousuke feels alive._

_Fate, however, decreed otherwise- as did the clothesline that knocks the two to the ground._

_"No one's allowed to do as they please in my castle… Especially not someone like you."_

_Kamoshida(?) smirks, lowering his arm beneath his cape. Sakamoto seethes beneath him._

_"The hell is that outfit?"_

_"I'm surprised that you still have the gall to defy me, Sakamoto. I thought you had learned your lesson."_

_Those golden eyes peer from Sakamoto to Shousuke, a predator watching trapped prey. That's all they were- meek little creatures to be chewed up and spat out once they were naught but bone._

_"And how quaint, you brought a friend this time! You really can't do anything for yourself, can you?"_

_"We're_ _not_ _friends." Sakamoto repeats. "This is all some joke to you, isn't it?!" He asks, with a dry laugh and a wry smirk. "Laugh while you can."_

_"Oh, a threat? From you? I had assumed you would know how to talk to your king by now." Kamoshida sneers- craning his head to the hulking armored traitors behind him. "Talking back will merely add to your sentence."_

_"That sentence already is death!" Sakamoto spits- and that's the precise moment when Kamoshida's knee slams into his stomach. The boy fumbles back, a cough forced from his lungs._

_"I know." Kamoshida's crooked grin splits across his vile face. "But now, I'll make it slow."_

_Shousuke feels something terrible boil at the sight- as Kamoshida's knuckle cracks against Sakamoto's skin. This anger is familiar._

_So familiar, in fact, that he's barely surprised to feel his body rush forwards, fist reared back._

_Shitheads like Kamoshida don't deserve to live._

_The fist slams into an oversized palm, and that palm twists. Kamoshida's leering at him now, and Sakamoto's looking at Shousuke with shock._

_...No, actually. It's more like fear._

_"I assumed you were just some… Petty thief he bribed." Kamoshida's voice is laced with venom- and he keeps twisting. Pain shoots up Shousuke's arm. "But you're the same pathetic delinquent I thought you were."_

_Kamoshida lets go- just to push Shousuke against the wall. A pair of blades press up against his neck- a pair of blades that were certainly real. "Wait your turn."_

_"Dumbass!" Sakamoto spits at him. "Why the hell didn't you run?"_

_He doesn't speak- he merely grins again._

_"Defiant 'till the end, huh?" Kamoshida sneers yet again, grabbing Sakamoto by the scruff. "I'm almost impressed by you runts."_

_Sakamoto's fury is barely restrained- gripping onto Kamoshida's forearm- a grip like a vice. "They've let a lot of shit slide, but you're not going to get away with murd- ghk!" The hand on Sakamoto's shirt jumps up to his throat- far too quickly to be human._

_(...What's the matter?)_

_A voice._

_Time stands still._

_(Are you just going to watch?)_

_(...Or, do you plan to forsake him to save yourself?)_

_(Look at him. You know that if you wait, his fate will be sealed. Death will come for his soul.)_

_._

_._

_._

_(Don't tell me… Was your previous action all a mistake?)_

_Shousuke glares- though directed to Kamoshida. There's no way to flip off the voices in your head._

_"I don't regret a single blow."_

_The voice- it laughs. (Very well. I heed your resolve.)_

_Time resumes. Everything hurts._

_His eyes burn, his blood runs hot, his skull throbs against his head. He grunts and screams, writhing against the wall._

_(Vow to me! I am thou, and thou art I. Thou who would tear thy world apart for thine justice! Reveal the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thy own, though thou be chained to hell itself!)_

_Pain, pain, painpainpain- he screams and writhes and all it does is burn more, like a flame fueled by the shouts of the damned._

_(Call upon my name. And release thy rage!)_

Clarity.

_A numbness falls over his body. Or, at least, numb in comparison to his previous experience._

_His goal is clear._

_"Kamoshida!" He shouts. Sweat drips down his skin, his hair slick. The tyrant turns, slowly- releasing his grip on Sakamoto._

_Shousuke's pleased by how surprised Kamoshida looks. He can't help but grin._

_"Sin such as yours comes with a price. Are you prepared to pay it off?"_

_Kamoshida's expression shifts- shocked, then unimpressed. As if his default face was a sneer. "I've never quite met a thief as desperate to die as you." He says, as Sakamoto slumps to the floor. "If you can't wait your turn, you'll just move to the front of the queue."_

_The blades are removed from his neck- the guards obediently stepping aside. A fist slaps hard against Shousuke's face- hard enough to knock the glasses off._

_Invigorating._

_The voice in his head laughs. Something itches on his face. He grabs for it, and smirks._

_"Now you've done it."_

**Author's Note:**

> If I were to make this into a series, it would be a set of oneshots in no particular order. Stygian Feathers fell through because I honestly really didn't feel like just retelling Persona 5 word for word- hence why the dialogue isn't *completely* accurate, and why I started on the first day of school and not the day the game starts.
> 
> Rude boys are my muse.
> 
> Thank you very much for reading! :)


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